Scottish smiles

It has only taken me 10 years, but on Sunday I finally discovered the secret to somewhat breaking the ice in Germany. Yes, I inadvertently worked out a way to get people on the streets to look at me in the eye, smile, laugh, and even stop dead in their tracks to admire. This really is quite an achievement, believe me.

Just to clarify, I wasn’t doing anything to unnecessarily draw attention to myself and no, I most certainly wasn’t walking along the street in fancy dress, drunk, or anything like that. So, how did I manage?

Well, the truth be told, it wasn’t actually anything to do with me. On Sunday afternoon we were invited to our first “proper” children’s birthday party. Dressed for the occasion, our daughter donned her little Scottish outfit (thanks to Grandma) – a red tartan dress, white shirt with matching tartan trim on the collar and the sleeves, matching red hairclip, pretty red cardigan (knitted by her Abu), and very cute little court shoes.  She looked adorable (ok, I am completely and utterly biased) and understandably stood out on a Sunday when most children are dressed in their tracksuits and on their way to the nearest play park. 

I’ve never seen so many faces light up in such a short period of time. There were smiles and admiring glances galore on our brief walk through Heidelberg. Clearly I’d better invest in, or commission some more, dresses and cardigans to cheer up the citizens of Heidelberg on the dark and gloomy winter days to come!